http://cache.deadspin.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/deadspin.com.png http://deadspin.com/tag/college sports http://deadspin.com/tag/college sports

We like to request records from public universities from time to time. We also like to request the requests made to these universities, which lets us know who's snooping around where. Mainly, it's reporters. Occasionally, though, one of our meta-requests reveals some high-level intercollegiate inanity, such as this petition from the University of Illinois's office for planning and budgeting to the University of Michigan's office of budget and planning. What did Illinois want? A look at Michigan's nether regions (contractually speaking). More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5878997&view=rss&microfeed=true

I don't care where you matriculated, what you studied, or what honors you graduated with. If you didn't go to Benedictine University, your degree is now useless. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5879065&view=rss&microfeed=true

The aftershocks from "The Shame of College Sports," Taylor Branch's devastating cover story in The Atlantic, continue to ripple. Two other pieces are out today advancing the notion that college athletes deserve financial compensation. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5841051&view=rss&microfeed=true

Everywhere is crisis and change, but mostly a constant questioning of what college football has been for a generation: an amateur sport that makes a lot of people a lot of money. The attacks are coming on all sides at the same time, and they are rapidly becoming too much for the sport to survive without addressing. The events of 2011 are more than an embarrassment to be moved on from; they are signs of an environment becoming inhospitable to how the NCAA likes to do business. We're in the death throes of an era. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5840601&view=rss&microfeed=true

There's a report out today that says college athletes are underpaid, and you should probably ignore it. Reading a study from the National College Players Association saying that college athletes should get more money is like reading a study from the NCAA saying student-athletes should never be paid and should thank Jesus every day for the honor of wearing the logo of a large State School for 3-to-4 years. When an advocacy group releases a bunch of charts and numbers and pronouncements and they all tend to back up the issues that they're advocating, take it with a Terrelle Pryor's Nissan 350Z full of salt. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5839839&view=rss&microfeed=true

Yesterday's Yahoo Sports dressing-down of The U included all the usual NCAA hand-wringing: illegal cars, strippers, and cash. We got a little excited because stripper abortions and bowling Donna Shalala were involved. (Anytime there's an investigation this big, there has to be the littlest bit of something interesting within it.) More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5831859&view=rss&microfeed=true

The number of women playing college sports has increased more than 500% since Title IX was introduced in 1972, but it certainly didn't level the playing field for female athletes. [Jezebel] More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5796185&view=rss&microfeed=true A group of UC Davis athletes are protesting their school's decision to cut several sports teams - they claim administrators chose to spruce up their own offices instead. According to CBS Sacramento, Davis cut men's swimming, diving, wrestling, and indoor track and field, as well as women's rowing, last year. And one swimmer claims administrators used money that could have gone to the teams to renovate their own offices. [Jezebel] More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5782164&view=rss&microfeed=true

We all know that many of today's student-athletes at universities across the country do very little work inside the classroom. This series will showcase how ridiculously bare the bare minimum can be. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5586072&view=rss&microfeed=true

Notre Dame, a small Bible school with one of sports' more offensive nicknames, has decided to promote its athletic program by channeling Parliament-Funkadelic. The echoes just woke up and would like Notre Dame to please keep that awful racket down. [MSF] More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5528162&view=rss&microfeed=true

NCAA enforcement is swift and harsh, if you're IUPUI. Probation, loss of scholarships, and vacated wins all because they hired one terrible academic adviser. Remember when "lack of institutional control" used to mean something? [WTHR/Indy Star/Photo via] More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5507250&view=rss&microfeed=true

Purdue is redesigning their mascot, after many complaints about scared children. Not this li'l tyke, though; Purdue Pete swallowed him whole before he could register fear. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5484024&view=rss&microfeed=true

Is this for real? This can't be for real. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5423836&view=rss&microfeed=true

Greetings, Comrades! Nicholls State was named in honor of a former Confederate officer, but since the Civil War is (mostly) over, the school decided their Southern Gentlemen Warrior mascot needed an refresh. So now he's a bloodthirsty fascist oppressor. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5339060&view=rss&microfeed=true

Being an NCAA athlete is awesome and everything, but if you twist your ankle—or something much worse—there's a good chance your school's health insurance won't cover you. Now put some tape on that and get back in there! More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5316330&view=rss&microfeed=true

North Dakota will drop its Native American-inspired nickname and logo next year. My vote for the new mascot: The Communists. [FOXNews] More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5255781&view=rss&microfeed=true

Six basketball and football players from the University of Toledo and two men from the Detroit area have been indicted on charges of "conspiracy to commit sports bribery" for shaving points between 2004 and 2006. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5242991&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Snuggie will soon be available in the colors and logo of your favorite college teams? Ok ... now I'll buy one. [CNBC] More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5229385&view=rss&microfeed=true

What, no giant talking beer keg? St. John's has a storied and troubled history when it comes to mascots, and the current vote to find a new one is not going to help, it appears. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5224925&view=rss&microfeed=true

The hunt is on for the rapscallion responsible for this: An update of East Carolina University's pirate logo. Yes, it may be time for all pirate-themed teams to turn in their swash, and their buckle. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5213674&view=rss&microfeed=true

Like many newspapers (the ones that are still running) the Houston Chronicle announced severe budget cuts and layoffs this week. The changes reportedly mean that the paper will be cutting all of its college sports beats. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5183948&view=rss&microfeed=true

Ann Arbor. Which narrowly beats out Palo Alto, home to quiet, bucolic Stanford University. [Forbes] More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5153469&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's a sign of the times that no one is discussing: Your favorite college sports may fall be the wayside in the coming three years due to the crappy economy. Ah! Not Badminton! More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5137123&view=rss&microfeed=true

In a move that leaves every person who has ever been to a Cracker Barrel aghast, two people made off with $158 in merchandise from the old country store yet left behind the wheels of cheese, butter churns, and large checker board pieces that you played on a quilt. Instead they filched North Carolina (mostly) and Duke merchandise. Yep, this combines ESPN's favorite rivalry with Mike Patrick's favorite down home cooking. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5031656&view=rss&microfeed=true

Yet no one mentions how rapidly the cost of competing for top talent is rising. Until, that is, the Chronicle of Higher Education issued this report dated August 1. The key finding is that almost half of colleges doubled or tripled the amount of money they spent on recruiting in the last decade. In a world where athletes demand attention, top flight facilities, huge stadiums or arenas, and constant coddling from adults, it sometimes gets overlooked how few schools can compete for top players on a purely economic basis. More »
]]> http://deadspin.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5031605&view=rss&microfeed=true